Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has designated the area around whichhe is
building his private multimillion 25-bedroomed mansion a "protectedarea" as
he faces calls to disclose the source of foreign currency forexclusive
imported materials being used at the mammoth project.

The
designation of the area as "protected area" means access is nowseverely
restricted and anyone who strays or is caught taking photographsmight land
in hot water.

The police can now legally shoot and kill anyone who
strays into thearea without authority as has been done at Mugabe's official
residence,Zimbabwe House, where several motorists have been shot and killed
over theyears.

Mugabe's private mansion in the suburb of
Helensvale, near Borrowdale,has been under construction for the past five
years and is now expected tocost more than US$25-million (about R) on
completion.

Apart from bricks, gravel and cement which have been
sourced locally,sources say everything else at the property,
particularly all the interior finishings and roofingmaterials have been
imported from China and Europe.

The house is being built mainly by
a Yugoslav company, Energo Project,though some work is subcontracted to
other companies.

The project also involves the construction of two
sizeable dams aroundthe mansion and extensive landscaping work.

Mugabe is now facing calls to disclose where he has been getting theforeign
currency to purchase all the imported materials for his houseparticularly
after the arrest of his finance minister, Christopher Kuruneri.

Kuruneri is in jail after being arrested for illegally exportingforeign
currency to South Africa where he is reportedly building aR30-million
mansion in Cape Town.

Zimbabwe is mired in its worst foreign
currency crisis after thecollapse of the tobacco farming sector in the wake
of Mugabe's landseizures.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has
therefore imposed stringent rules toprioritise the use of scarce foreign
currency to importing fuel andelectricity.

A spokesman for the
anti-corruption watchdog, TransparencyInternational (Zimbabwe Chapter) said
in view of that background, it becomes"absolutely essential" for Mugabe to
disclose where and how he has beengetting foreign currency to pay for all
imports for his private mansion.

Scores of manufacturing companies
have folded due to lack of foreigncurrency to meet essential
imports.

Kuruneri claimed that he got his money to pay for his Cape
Townmansion from consultancy work.

Shadow foreign secretary
Michael Ancram has called on the government toprovide a clear statement that
they are opposed to England touring Zimbabwethis autumn.

England and
Wales Cricket Board bosses are facing up to the fact that theywill have to
fulfil their obligations or face fines, a potential suspensionfrom the
International Cricket Council and subsequent loss of revenue
whileomitted.

They meet with foreign secretary Jack Straw on Thursday
to discuss thesituation further.

And Ancram insists a formal letter
expressing the government's displeasureat the national side playing in a
country gripped by Robert Mugabe'sabhorrent regime will aid England's hopes
of missing the tour.

"What I would like to hear and what the ECB would
like to hear is a clearstatement from Jack Straw that this tour should not
go ahead," Ancram toldRadio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"He
cannot ban it but he can make it absolutely clear that it is thegovernment's
view that it would be wrong for this tour to proceed.

"What we need now
is a clear statement which the ECB can then take to theICC and say 'the
government does not want us to go'."

Ancram visited Zimbabwe last year
and believes a strong stance by Englandwill emphasise the atrocities in the
African country.

"It will certainly give a signal that we are not turning
our backs on whatis happening," Ancram added.

"When I was last there
the message was 'don't let the rest of the worldforget what is going on
here'. It's totally unacceptable to give any comfortto a dictator who is,
essentially, carrying out ethnic cleansing in his owncountry, using
starvation as a political weapon and literally destroying therule of
law."

Harare - Journalists in Zimbabwe still risk arrest and
imprisonment if theypublish anything the government deems untrue or unfairly
critical, with nosign of a let-up in a two-year-old crackdown on the
media.

Despite repeated calls for a review of the tough media laws that
came intoforce in 2002, local journalists say there is little hope that
theregulations will be changed under President Robert Mugabe.

"In the
last 12 months we have seen the crackdown on the media beingintensified and
taken to new heights," said Abel Mutsakani, president of theIndependent
Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ).

"We saw a situation where the
media has been brought under the control ofthe central government," he said,
referring to a recent court decisionupholding that the state had a right to
demand that journalists and theiremployers had to register before operating
in the country.

Under Zimbabwe's media laws journalists and their
employers need to belicensed by a state-appointed commission, while the
communication of falseinformation carries a fine or maximum five-year prison
term under securitylaws.

The IJAZ, the Media Institute of Southern
Africa (Misa-Zimbabwe), theZimbabwe Union of Journalists and the Media
Monitoring project of Zimbabwesaid in a report to mark press freedom day
Monday that more than 100 peopleworking in the media had been arrested under
the media and security lawssince 2000.

"The past four years have seen
some of the worst media and freedom ofexpression violations being
perpetrated on journalists," they said, addingthat the media environment in
the troubled southern African state "can bestbe described as anarchic", they
added.

"Media practitioners face detention, arrest, imprisonment and even
death,"said Misa-Zimbabwe. "Working as a journalist or media
practitionerespecially for the independent media, has become a hazardous if
notlife-threatening."

THE
bruising clash between Zanu PF information and publicity secretary,Nathan
Shamuyarira and his deputy, Jonathan Moyo has fizzled out following
adecision by the ruling party to allow the British Sky News crew to go
aheadwith a planned documentary on the Zimbabwean situation.

Reliable
sources told the Sunday Mirror that the embarrassing dislocation ofconsensus
between ruling party and government over the Sky News saga,manifested in the
apparent clash between Moyo and Shamuyarira, ended afterhigher authorities
in Zanu PF okayed the Sky News documentary.

On Thursday, Moyo, in his
capacity as Minister of State for Information andPublicity issued a hardline
statement condemning the entry of the Sky Newscrew into the country without
fulfilling the country's stringentaccreditation laws. Moyo effectively asked
the Sky News team to return to"their country of origin" from where they
would then seek permission to flyback into the country for purposes of
accreditation. "Failure to complywould, quite naturally, trigger a decisive
response from agencies whose dutyit is to uphold the rule of law in the
country," he warned.

However, the Sunday Mirror understands that Moyo's
radical national defenceline, expressed through his insistence upon the
fulfillment of legalrequirements pertaining to accreditation of foreign
journalists, cameagainst a background of numerous instructions from his
party boss,Shamuyarira, to make arrangements for the Sky News team's visit
to thecountry. Documents in the possession of this newspaper show that the
SkyNews team's visit had been on the cards as far back as September last
year.The ruling party, swayed by the need to mount a formidable
internationalpublic relations campaign, mooted the idea of inviting Sky News
to coverboth the December Zanu PF conference in Masvingo as well as such
fundamentalissues as the country's national youth service programme and the
land reformexercise. Initially, Sky News had proposed to carry out live
broadcasts,including an interview with President Robert Mugabe. However,
aftersuggestions from Shamuyarira, on behalf of Zanu PF, the broadcaster
agreedto film a documentary, covering topics proposed by the ruling
party,including the presidential interview.

As recently as April 13,
Adrian Wells, the head of foreign news at Sky News,wrote to Shamuyarira
accepting the conditions under which they would shootthe
documentary.

"We would be very keen to feature, as discussed, youth
training camps;resettled Zimbabwean farmers, key cabinet ministers, the
governor of theReserve Bank (Gideon Gono), members of parliament in the
parliament buildingand other issues as relevant," Wells said.

The Sky
News team, which was initially scheduled to start filming on April26, could
not do so, Wells said, since its top news team was currentlyfilming with
American military forces in Afghanistan. Subsequently, Wellssuggested that
the filming begin on May 3 (tomorrow).

Wells also welcomed the
opportunity to discuss with Zanu PF how his teamcould film or illustrate the
economic situation obtaining in the country. Hewas, however, still to be
advised on a date for the interview with PresidentMugabe. Letters from
Shamuyarira to Moyo in our possession indicate that theformer frequently
updated his party deputy on developments on the Sky Newsvisit. Contacted for
comment on Friday, Shamuyarira was rather guarded, onlyrevealing that he had
referred the matter to the party leadership. Moyoyesterday switched off his
phone after this writer identified himself tohim.

Earlier on
Thursday, information and publicity department secretary, GeorgeCharamba had
insisted that even though the Sky News trip had been arrangedby the ruling
party, the department did not accept visiting journaliststhrough third
parties. "All the party can do is to recommend them, otherwisethe obligation
to seek accreditation lies with the journalists themselves,"he
said.

The Sky News advance team, comprising producer Ben Depear and
cameramanMartin Smith, who are staying at a Harare hotel, are scheduled to
completetheir accreditation process tomorrow (Monday). A source close to
thebeleaguered journalists on Thursday said Sky News had assumed that Zanu
PFhad liaised with government on their accreditation and had not foreseen
suchcomplications as emerged.

Sky News had also forwarded an outline
of questions, which they intended topose to President Mugabe in their
proposed interview. The 24 questions fallunder four broad categories,
namely: economic crisis; land reform;international community, and domestic
opposition.

PARIS - Reporters Without
Borders said that journalists in Africa facedworsening working conditions in
2003 and warned that the continent'sindependent media were in the process of
disappearing in several countries.

"2003 was not a very good year for
press freedom in Africa," theinternational press freedom advocate said in
its annual report, released tocoincide with World Press Freedom
Day.

Two journalists were killed in Ivory Coast and a third probably
executed inthe Democratic Republic of Congo, RSF said, adding that many
others had beenimprisoned.

"Independent news media are becoming
scarce throughout Africa andjournalists continue to flee with a heavy
heart."

In Ivory Coast, ranked 140th of 193 countries for press freedom
by the USFreedom House organisation, Kloueu Gonzreu, a journalist working
for theIvorian news agency AIP, was killed in a war zone and Jean Helene,
acorrespondent for Radio France Internationale, was shot dead in
Abidjan.

A Franco-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, the subject of
violentattacks in the government-supporting press because of his critical
stance,has not been seen since mid-April.

"Worrying examples include the closure of 'The Daily News' in
Zimbabwe, theclosure of several news media in Gabon, the continuing ban on
anyprivately-owned press in Eritrea, the harassment of the only
oppositionnewspaper in Djibouti and the censorship that was temporarily
imposed onradio stations in Burundi and Chad."

The wars and
intermittent fighting in some African countries played a majorrole in this
declining freedom and it is becoming more and more dangerous tocover a war
in Africa, RSF said.

Journalists must also "face the wrath of aging
regimes clinging to power andprotective of their authority. They all balk at
liberalisation, especiallywhen broadcasting is involved," it
said.

Ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa have maintained a monopoly of
radio andtelevision broadcasting.

Free expression also suffered
serious setbacks in Mali, Niger and Senegal,RSF said, listing expulsions and
arrests of journalists and the closure ofseveral privately-owned radio
stations in Niamey.

Significantly, for the first time since World War II,
journalists wereconvicted of inciting murder and violence in a high profile
hate media caseat the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which
prosecutes the keyperpetrators of the 1994 genocide.

Three former
leading journalists with Rwandan news media received sentencesranging from
35 years to life imprisonment for "inciting genocide" in 1994,when at least
800,000 people were slaughtered.

"It was hoped these sentences would be a
warning to those who continue toput out hate messages elsewhere in Africa,"
RSF said of the ruling by theinternational tribunal.

But it noted
that several newspapers in Ivory Coast "often cast oil on theflames,
stirring up hatred towards foreigners and pitting communitiesagainst each
other."

RSF highlighted Mozambique for the "exemplary" trial into the
murder ofjournalist Carlos Cardoso, which saw six people receive long jail
sentences.

"The case is worthy of note, and should serve as a model for
other Africancountries to follow. It should also be a warning to the
murderers ofjournalists who are still at large in Angola, Burkina Faso,
Ivory Coast,Nigeria and elsewhere that they, too, will one day have to
answer for theiractions," RSF concluded.

Mbangwa sacked, reinstated
Harare: Former Zimbabwe international Mpumulelo 'Pommy' Mbangwa,covering the
Sri Lankan tour as a commentator, was reportedly sacked andreinstated by the
chairman of the ZCU marketing committee Ozias Bvute.

The incident
occurred during the final ODI last Thursday.

According to the terms
of the ZCU contract with TV company Octagon,Bvute has the power to fire
commentators. Bvute told Mbangwa, according toTV personnel present, that he
took exception to the latter "criticising theZimbabwe team".

Later that day, Mbangwa wanted his dismissal reconsidered and Bvuterelented,
according to an Octagon senior staff. (AP)

A Zimbabwean rebel player has alleged that Zimbabwe cricket
officialsthreatened to dig up the pitch for an international match if five
blackplayers were not selected for the series against Sri Lanka. The player
wroteto an Australian friend last week, just as hopes for an end to the
crisiswere raised.

The Sun-Herald reported that the player, who chose
to be anonymous,explained to Ross Barrat - the chief executive of Albion, a
cricket apparelcompany - that the rebels had made it a legal matter, and
that a number ofthem were considering moves to Sydney and
Perth.

"Things have gone mad here. We've had non-stop meetings with these
... forthe last three weeks," the player said. "We're forcing them
intoarbitration, which they don't like because they're so guilty. It's
adangerous move, but we're doing it to try to save Zimbabwe cricket."
Headded that he had "heard Heath Streak is Sydney-bound, but I'm not 100
percent sure".

However, the conflict appeared to be heading towards a
resolution on Friday,when four rebel players - including Streak - were
selected to play forZimbabwe A in a four-day game against the Sri Lankans.
Ray Price, TrevorGripper and Sean Ervine were the others.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I
am horrified at the lack of outrage against Robert Mugabe in this
country.Business Day has been almost silent on the issue but prints columns
such asChristine Qunta's, Cheering crowd sees Mugabe as an African hero
(April 30).As far as I know from first-hand information and articles in
othernewspapers, many people are starving to death in Zimbabwe.

How
dare we sit back and pretend Zimbabwe is okay, that this man is a herodidn't
we recently throw out apartheid because it was an abusive system?

Is it
okay, because this tyrant is black and he is doing it to black people,to
allow atrocities to continue?

Does his autocratic leadership look like
democracy? Why are you not speakingout? Where is your free thinking, your
ethics, your stand on democracy andwhere is your outrage at his repression
of the media in Zimbabwe?

The Star's editorial April 21 2004,
"Zim's new challenges" propagatesa rather odd view of Zimbabwe's history
when it attempts to re-cast it asstruggle against British
colonialism.

Ian Smith in his autobiography Bitter Harvest: The
Great Betrayal2001: page 3, correctly states the position, "... we were
never governeddirectly from Whitehall, and therefore never came within the
category ofbeing a colony."

The struggle was not even for
independence. Southern Rhodesia had beenself-governing since
1923.

If anybody was fighting for independence it was Ian Smith's
governmentwhich unilaterally declared independence in November
1965.

Independence was opposed by Mugabe unless at the same
time it forcedblack majority rule onto the Smith government. Mugabe was
fighting for blackmajority rule and his greatest ally in this endeavour was
the Britishgovernment.

With this background it is very strange
nowadays to hear Mugabe claimto have been fighting British colonialism. It
is even stranger to read TheStar echoing these claims.